New PR Skills Needed to Fill Talent Gap

The Holmes Global Communication Report 2016 revealed that in-house execs and agency leaders agree that talent is the top challenge for PR today.

Although the outlook for growth is good, there is concern that the industry is not adapting fast enough to the new media landscape and there is a lack of talent to allow brands and agencies to achieve their expansion goals. The PR industry is still prioritizing traditional PR skills, such as writing, strategic planning and verbal communication skills over the newer digital skills needed today.

Most disturbing is the omission of the need for PR talent to have visual content skills.

Source: Holmes Report

“There are two possible explanations for the focus on written communications, and neither of them is particularly encouraging,” pointed out Holmes. “The first is that many respondents still don’t believe that the ability to write well—which really ought to be a ‘price of admission’ to the industry—is still in short supply. The second is that respondents are underestimating the rise of visual communications—infographics and animation and video more broadly—and the other new skills we need to attract.”

Only 4 in 10 college seniors in the 2016 graduating class said their college experience helped them prepare for their future career. (A survey by McGraw-Hill and Hanover Research.) And this is certainly true of PR and Communication majors. I interviewed several recruiters who specialize in finding PR talent for brands and agencies and they all said these digital skills top the list of requirements.